APISA film fest continues May 7 and 13
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and UCOP’s Asian Pacific Islander Staff Association (APISA) is hosting screenings of short films to mark the event.
Thursday, May 7, 12 to 1 p.m.: 1217 Kaiser
La Maison en Petits Cubes
(つみきのいえ Tsumiki no Ie, “The House of Small Cubes”)
Director: Kunio Katō
Awards: 2009 Academy Award, Best Animated Short
Synopsis: As his town floods, an old man is forced to add levels onto his home in order to stay dry. But when he drops his favorite pipe into the watery levels below, his scuba-diving search for the pipe prompts him to keep on descending and relive scenes from his life.
Mei
Director: Arvin Chen (UC Berkeley alumnus)
Awards: 2007 Berlin International Film Festival, Silver Bear for Best Short Film
Synopsis: Mei is the story of a young man who works in a noodles stall run by a father and daughter. He is, of course, in love with the daughter, but the eponymous girl in question plans to use her English language skills to leave Taiwan and find a job in New York. Will our reticent hero pluck up the courage to tell her how he feels or will something else come out of his mouth?
Hot ‘n’ Fast
This involves an incident set in the near future when all our information is on a central database and nothing is private anymore. Who knew ordering a pizza can turn out to be a hair-raising experience?
Wednesday, May 13, 12 to 1 p.m.: Franklin Lobby One
In partnership with PRIDE, APISA welcomes Penny Balnado, owner of Café Gabrielle, who made a documentary about her struggles as an undocumented, queer person of color. Balnado will show her film My Beautiful Resistance and talk about her experiences, immigration and public policy surrounding this issue.
Light refreshments will be served at both events.